MASH categories

The categories are where MASH gets good. "Who you'll marry" and "what you'll drive" are the classics. Then somebody adds "what kind of pet you'll have" and writes down "a swarm of bees." Build your own set and play it right here, or steal from the 56 lists below if you're playing on paper. We won't tell.

Build a set Browse the lists

it counts for you

Sticker drawings of MASH options: a mansion, a shack, wedding rings, four baby strollers, a pink sports car, a shopping cart, a world map, and a crystal ball

your turn

Build your own MASH categories set

Where you'll live - Mansion, Apartment, Shack, or House - those are constant. But you can swap the other lists, rename anything, pick a counting number (or draw a spiral!), and play. P.S. The older version with artwork by Scott McMahon is here: Play MASH online.

  1. Where you will live

    stays put

  2. Country you will live in
  3. Vacation style
  4. Languages you will speak
  5. Airline status
  6. Your own category

    Name it, fill in two options or more, and it plays with the rest.

Draw a spiral and count its rings, or enter any number from 2 to 99.

grab the pen

Draw your spiral

Start in the middle and go around as many times as you like. When you lift the pen, a line runs out from the center and every ring it crosses counts as one.

start here

The 4 classic MASH categories

Every MASH game starts with these. The acronym is the first category, Mansion Apartment Shack House, but you need at least three more to build a full story.

  1. Where you will live

    • Mansion
    • Apartment
    • Shack
    • House

    The letters in MASH. This list is the same in every game.

  2. Who you will marry

    • a celebrity crush
    • someone in your class
    • your worst enemy
    • a total wildcard

    Four names that make everyone giggle. Put your crush on the same list as your worst enemy.

  3. Number of kids

    • 0
    • 2
    • 5
    • 17

    Keep one number way too big. 17 is the classic.

  4. Car

    • Ferrari
    • minivan
    • shopping cart
    • horse

    Start at luxury and work down to ridiculous.

After these four, we would add career, city, pet, and superpower.

who's playing?

MASH categories by age

Seven-year-olds want superpowers and a pet named Sir Barksalot. Grown-ups want to find out if the mortgage ever gets paid off.

game night

Themed MASH category sets

Four lists that belong together. Load one and the builder puts where you'll live on top, since every game needs it.

The celebrity edition

  • Celebrity spouse a current heartthrob, an unexpected pick, a retired sitcom star, a weather reporter
  • Celebrity best friend a pop star, a talk-show host, a pro athlete, a chaotic comedian
  • Celebrity neighbor your favorite actor, a reality-TV villain, a quiet novelist, a drummer who practices at 2am
  • Award you will win Oscar, Grammy, Nobel Prize, World's Okayest Employee mug
Load in the builder: The celebrity edition

The travel edition

  • Country you will live in France, Japan, Australia, your home country
  • Vacation style luxury resort, backpacking, staycation, cruise ship
  • Languages you will speak Spanish, Mandarin, emoji only, pig latin
  • Airline status first class for life, middle seat forever, private jet, road trips only
Load in the builder: The travel edition

The career deep dive

  • Salary minimum wage, comfortable, millionaire, paid in exposure
  • Commute walking distance, 2-hour nightmare, work from bed, helicopter
  • Boss personality best mentor ever, micromanager, absent, you ARE the boss
  • Work bestie instant BFF, it's just a job, drama llama, no coworkers
Load in the builder: The career deep dive

The home life edition

  • House style modern, Victorian, treehouse, houseboat
  • Backyard feature pool, garden, trampoline, parking lot
  • Kitchen situation chef's kitchen, microwave only, takeout every night, personal chef
  • Chore division 50/50, you do everything, a robot does it, hire someone
Load in the builder: The home life edition

The wild card categories

  • Theme song when you enter a room epic orchestra, sad trombone, a pop hit, silence
  • Unusual talent you will develop juggling, speaking backwards, competitive eating, predicting rain
  • Ghost that haunts your house friendly, mischievous, none, you become the ghost
  • Conspiracy theory you will believe aliens, Bigfoot, birds aren't real, none, you're normal
Load in the builder: The wild card categories

in a hurry

Quick-start sets

Seven lists each, where you'll live included. These are the same sets as the Start from buttons in the builder, written out for paper.

from our sheets

Tips for creating great MASH categories

  1. Mix good and bad in every list. If all four options are great, nobody groans when the count lands.
  2. Play to the room. Little kids want dragons and pet rocks. Your college roommates want inside jokes.
  3. Give every list one option everybody dreads, like a shopping cart for a car, or 17 kids.
  4. Use real names and places. "Fancy restaurant" is fine. The diner where your dad sang karaoke is funnier.
  5. Update the old lists. Paper MASH had doctor and lawyer for jobs. Ours has YouTuber and professional dog walker.

done building?

Want the artwork version?

This page plays a set you built. The illustrated game and a blank sheet for paper are next door. The app draws the spiral and does the counting, with art by cartoonist Scott McMahon.

Play MASH online Printable MASH sheet

Download MASH for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac:

MASH on iPhone: the Weddings category, with four places to get married written on notebook paper

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